hellraiser7 The woods to me can be one of the creepiest places to be because you never really know what's hidden out there.This film is another underrated and forgotten gem. I'll admit discovering that Disney made a horror film was unreal to me, I felt this was great because it really showed that Disney was starting to take chances they were starting to take the next step. It's a shame Disney didn't make more horror films, I really would of liked to of seen them.The film seems like a lost anthology tale for the TV show "Are you Afraid of the Dark" because like with that show this is a horror film for the family film genre which I think is really cool since we really don't have that many. It is a very tricky feet trying to mix both the horror and family genre, but this film I feel is one done right because it's able to successful balance out both without watering itself down.I really like the production value and even cinematography of the film which I think have some memorable visuals; I really liked how the film used the forest locale, the use of light and shadow which made the woods a character in itself as it emits a sense of mystery and menace. I even like the ruined chapel location which almost looks like part of a level in the video game "Castlevania" which looked spooky from it's Gothic feel and structure and amount of darkness that emitted almost a creepy feeling. Or even the viewpoint of the Watcher which adds to the creep factor because you not sure what this thing or entity is about to do, even thought it's not doing anything now you know it will soon.Music is solid, though not memorable which to me is one of the weak points of the film, I wish this film had a more memorable score but still it was good enough to give the film the right moodiness it has.I really like the story, it's not really a ghost story there really isn't a ghost per say it's more of a psychic mystery thriller, which I think is cool since we don't get nearly enough of those in the horror genre. The suspense is solid, yeah it's a slow burn but I don't mind because as the film gets further things start to escalate. You really have a creepy and disorienting feeling throughout the film because your not entirely sure what's going to happen next or even what all this is leading up to. The mystery I think is very good, it has a great amount of intrigue, there are clues but they're not obvious, we can see them but we can't entirely decipher their meaning or know how they really go together; and I like that feeling it really makes it feel like a real mystery, causing us to think and figure things out. Characters I think are pretty solid from the adult characters mainly Mrs. Aylwood played by Bette Davis one of her last roles. She is pretty much that mysterious wise women on the side of road character but I really like how you actually kind feel for her, as we see throughout the years she has been plagued by this mystery of not knowing what happened to her daughter which is a terrible feeling and in a way just motives you to want the protagonists to solve the mystery and win.And I like both the young female protagonists. Kyle Richards is solid as Elle Curtis and on a side note this actress played Linsey in John Carpenter's "Halloween" which is cool since that's one of my favorite horror films and that's two horror films in a row for the actress which isn't bad. Anyway, I like that she's not some stereotypical annoying little sister but she a sweet girl, she has a bit of charisma, loves dogs, despite young she's not totally naive she does exercise some intelligence.Lynn Holy Johnson I also thought was solid/decent as Jan Curtis, her character is solid, she takes charge, cares for her little sister; there's a good back and forth between both of them, and I like that she's very open doesn't dismiss what's happening as things shes just seeing. Both the sisters are psychics but don't entirely know it or have no idea how to control it, each of them have the ability but it works different. For Elle it's mainly in hearing, she is able to hear voices from a distance or pick up sounds no others can hear, much like with a dog that can hear certain frequencies. Jan it's sight, where she can see images for a certain amount of time and occur at different times.This makes both sympathetic because their in the same boat as us, their struggling to figure out what in the hell is going on, why this is all happening to them. There are some memorable images like one scene which was creepy was Jan putting up a mirror and then when she looks at it again she doesn't see her reflection. But for me the best scene was in the mirror maze when we see Jan suddenly see multiple images of a girl, blind folded and from her lip movements is constantly saying help me.What also makes this films stand out are two of it's endings. I personally really liked the original ending they choice for the film it felt right and well balanced, though I even liked the alternate ending which I thought good let alone even stranger, I won't say what it is you just have to see both for yourself.Like any sight in the woods is worth a watch.Rating: 3 stars

jjnxn-1 Mediocre scare flick, rather dark for a Disney film but not really very frightening. Lynn-Holly Johnson is an appallingly bad actress ruining every scene she's in. Old pros David McCallum and Carroll Baker are wasted. Poor Bette Davis is spared nothing, made to look perhaps the worst she ever did on screen except in Baby Jane where at least she was supposed to look bad. She's still the most compelling presence in the film in her brief scenes. Weak special effects and a nonsensical story don't pull the viewer in, something that's crucial in a film like this. If you enjoy chillers there are dozens of films that would do the trick far better than this blah effort.

brownish33 i saw this only once when i was a kid. i vaguely remembered it, all i remember is a girl with a blindfold and a church. so many years later, my mom saw this on DVD and picked it up, thinking we might enjoy it. we had recently seen "something wicked this way comes", another movie i vaguely remembered as a child, which was really scary and excellent film, especially for Disney, and was very dark, and we thought "watcher" would be in the same vein as "wicked", since they were only made a few years apart. but it was definitely not. it was far worse! the ending with the "alien" thing or whatever, and some explanation of an "aternate reality" totally killed it for me. holly Lynn Johnson, though definitely a cutie, was REALLY bad acting. like, annoyingly bad. the story seemed to take forever to pick up, i didn't understand. Davis was not very good either. nothing stood out. i was especially disappointed that it wasn't a "ghost story" in the end, but some kinda scifi plot with switching the bodies back and forth because of some kind of weird chant the kids did in the chapel. didn't get it at all, and it got WAY too scifi. i thought the whole time it would be something supernatural. just lame. something wicked this way comes which came out a few years later was FAR Superior, genuinely scary, great acting, and just all around a better film from Disney studios.

bkoganbing The Watcher In The Woods marks the Disney Studios only venture into the horror film genre. Bearing in mind that it is the Magic Kingdom that is producing this film there are going to be certain parameters that have to be observed. Ultimately the edge that horror films have to have is lost because you know there will be a happy ending with Disney involved.Your average American family the Curtises have come to the United Kingdom to work and have rented an English country estate, the kind that abound in all those old murder mysteries. Husband David McCallum, Wife Carroll Baker, and daughters Lynn-Holly Johnson and Kyle Richards move into the estate while the owner from whom they rent, Bette Davis lives in the guest house. The usual noises and things that go bump in the night start happening and also an apparition of a young girl around Johnson's age keeps appearing for Johnson. As it turns out years ago during some kind of witchcraft ceremony some of the local kids were participating in, Bette Davis's daughter simply vanished. The same kids who were participants in that event have grown up to be Frances Cuka, Richard Pasco, and Ian Bannen. They've no desire to relive painful memories, but Johnson wants these visitations ended once and for all.Of course Bette Davis heads the cast list, but she has surprisingly little to do here and she's in a role that's not going to require her to chew the scenery. She's not the center of this film despite the billing.Although the cast performs well and there are some nice touches in the film, ultimately The Watcher In The Woods will never rank as a great horror film. Disney just does not do this kind of film well. In fact the DVD I have gives to alternate endings, both of which I found superior to the minor key ending this one has.